Yes, I'm blessed,and I know who I amI express myself on every jamI'm not a man,​but I'm in commandHot damn, I got an all-girl bandAnd I wear the gear, yeah,I wanna wear it, tooI don't care, dear,go ahead and stare, ooooAfraid to be you,livin' in fear, boo?Expression is rare, I dare you ~Salt N Pepa

Directions for Your Reading & Writing Assignment from the Syllabus

To further theorize a world where silence is imposed on marginalized groups and the need for those groups to TALK anyway, we will start this semester by reading Audre Lorde: "Uses of Anger" and "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." Please read both essays.

Watch the video above for a fuller understanding of the politics of writing in this course

You have a rather simple writing for our very first assignment:a 600-word piece that details your personal reactions to: 1) any point Lorde makes in "The Uses of Anger"; 2) any point that Lorde makes in "The Transformation of Silence into Language and Action." Notice that there are no expectations that you come up with a thesis statement, write the stock 5-paragraph essay, or perform some other version of school writing. You are being asked to respond, from your own TRUTH, to Lorde's points. The open-ended writing task here is intentional. This class is not asking you to become the type of academic feminist or gender theorist who writes perfect, Western essays and then not notice or intervene in the oppression of your brothas and sistas who are sitting right there beside you. The world does not need any more of that kind of writing and thinking.

College professors already produce and assign way more than enough of that kind of thing. So make your writing be about sumthin! Let your creative juices flow. Write in the way that Audre Lorde models for you: take a risk and put it all on the line! Express yourself!

Please create your account at johnjay.digication.com in order to access the class readings. Use your entire email JJay address (i.e., ckynard@jjay.cuny.edu and the password is your official CUNY password.